The Colts have added another quarterback to the organization ahead of Week 18.
The team announced the signing of Seth Henigan to their practice squad. Henigan spent the offseason with the Jaguars after going undrafted out of Memphis. He was cut at the end of August and spent a month on Jacksonville’s practice squad.
Henigan’s addition could be a sign that the Colts do not plan to play Philip Rivers in their final game of the regular season. Rivers came out of retirement earlier this month as the Colts scrambled to try to stay alive in the playoff race, but they were officially eliminated over the weekend and Rivers spoke about possibly sitting out the finale after Sunday’s loss to the Jags.
Riley Leonard is the other quarterback on the 53-man roster in Indianapolis. Anthony Richardson has been designated for return from injured reserve, but the team has given no indication that they plan to activate him.
Jaguars Clips
The Jaguars moved a step closer to winning the AFC South, holding off the Colts 23-17 on Sunday afternoon.
The Jaguars have won seven in a row to move to 12-4, while Indianapolis, which was eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday, fell to 8-8 after a 7-1 start.
If the Jaguars beat the Titans next week, they win the division title. The Texans will win it with a win over the Colts, combined with a Jacksonville loss.
The Jacksonville defense held the Colts to 204 yards, including only 135 yards passing, and totaled two sacks and two turnovers. Antonio Johnson’s interception in the end zone on a final-play Hail Mary throw from Riley Leonard sealed it.
The Jaguars kept the Colts in it with two red-zone turnovers in the first half. Jakobi Meyers lost a fumble after the Jaguars reached the Indianapolis 17, and Germaine Pratt intercepted Trevor Lawrence in the end zone after the Jaguars reached the Indianapolis 16.
The Jaguars scored a touchdown and three field goals in the second half after trailing 10-7 at halftime and 17-14 late in the third quarter. They finished with 370 yards.
Lawrence ran for touchdowns of 4 and 6 yards and went 23-of-37 for 263 yards and an interception, with Parker Washington catching eight for 115. Travis Etienne had 17 carries for 76 yards.
Philip Rivers was 17-of-30 for 147 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Jonathan Taylor had 21 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown.
The Panthers added rookie Tetairoa McMillan to their injury report with an illness on Sunday morning, but they won’t have to go without their top wide receiver against the Seahawks.
McMillan is active for their home game against the NFC West frontrunners. The first-round pick has 65 catches for 924 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season.
The Panthers will win the NFC South on Sunday with a win and a Buccaneers loss to the Dolphins. If they don’t get that combination of results, the two teams will okay for the division crown in Week 18.
Seahawks at Panthers
Seahawks: WR Hunter Renfrow, S Demani Richardson, DT Jared Harrison-Hunte, TE James Mitchell, DT Tershawn Wharton
Panthers: QB Jalen Milroe, CB Coby Bryant, LB Jared Ivey, T Charles Cross, G Bryce Cabledue, OL Mason Richman, DL Brandon Pili
Steelers at Browns
Steelers: QB Will Howard, WR Calvin Austin, RB Kaleb Johnson, CB Brandin Echols, CB James Pierre, G Isaac Seumalo, EDGE T.J. Watt, DL Logan Lee
Browns: OL Jeremiah Byers, QB Dillon Gabriel, OL Kendrick Green, CB Myles Harden, DL Sam Kamara, TE David Njoku, WR Jamari Thrash
Patriots at Jets
Patriots: QB Tommy DeVito, WR Kayshon Boutte, OT Marcus Bryant, G Jared Wilson, NT Khyiris Tonga, LB Robert Spillane, LB Harold Landry
Jets: QB Tyrod Taylor, OL Marquis Hayes, WR Quentin Skinner, TE Mason Taylor, DL Mazi Smith, S Chris Smith
Saints at Titans
Saints: S Ugo Amadi, WR Mason Tipton, CB Rejzohn Wright, RB Alvin Kamara, G Cesar Ruiz, TE Zaire Mitchell-Paden, DT Bryan Bresee
Titans: S Jerrick Reed, OL Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, OL Garrett Dellinger, OL Drew Moss, DL Cam Horsley
Jaguars at Colts
Jaguars: CB Keith Taylor, RB Bhayshul Tuten, G Patrick Mekari, C Robert Hainsey, TE Hunter Long, DL Danny Striggow, DT Maason Smith
Colts: C Tanor Bortolini, RB Tyler Goodson, S Reuben Lowery, S George Odum, OL Dalton Tucker, DL JT Tuimoloau
Buccaneers at Dolphins
Buccaneers: QB Connor Bazelak, WR Sterling Shepard, S Rashad Wisdom, LB John Bullock, OT Tristan Wirfs, EDGE Anthony Nelson
Dolphins: QB Tua Tagovailoa, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, OL Kendall Lamm, C Aaron Brewer, LB Derrick McClendon
Cardinals at Bengals
Cardinals: S Budda Baker, OL Evan Brown, TE Pharaoh Brown, CB Kei’Trel Clark, K Joshua Karty, CB Kalen King, DL PJ Mustipher
Bengals: QB Jake Browning, WR Charlie Jones, CB Josh Newton, S PJ Jules, DE Joseph Ossai, TE Cam Grandy, DT Jordan Jefferson
The Jaguars added a starting offensive lineman to their injury report on Sunday morning.
Right tackle Anton Harrison is now listed as questionable to play against the Colts. Harrison is dealing with an illness.
Harrison has started all 13 games he has played this season and he’s started all 46 games he’s played since the Jaguars made him a first-round pick in 2023.
The Jaguars ruled out right guard Patrick Mekari on Friday’s injury report and center Robert Hainsey is listed as questionable to play with a groin injury, so they may have to do a lot of shuffling up front ahead of Sunday’s kickoff. Walker Little, Chuma Edoga, Wyatt Milum, and Jonah Monheim are bench options on the offensive line.
Houston’s win over the Chargers got the Texans into the playoffs. And it leaves only one spot in the AFC unclaimed.
Six teams are now in: Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Texans, Chargers, and Bills.
That leaves one more seat at the table, for one of two teams. Either the Steelers or the Ravens will be the AFC North champions. Pittsburgh’s magic number is one; a Baltimore loss to the Packers tonight or a Steelers win over the Browns on Sunday seals the deal.
Plenty of seed remain TBD, including the AFC East and AFC South champions, along with the all-important No. 1 seed.
Still, six of seven AFC teams are set. Which is the same situation as the NFC, where the only remaining spot will go to eventual NFC South champs, Carolina or Tampa Bay.
“Smaller market” or not, the Jaguars are hot right now.
They’ve won six straight games. It’s the second longest winning streak in team history. In 1999, the Jaguars won 11 in a row en route to a 14-2 season and the top seed in the AFC.
This time around, the Jaguars are averaging 34.2 points per game during the streak. It’s happening in large part because quarterback Trevor Lawrence is playing the best football of his career.
During the winning streak, Lawrence has 19 total touchdowns and five turnovers. Since a four-turnover performance in the victory over the Cardinals, Lawrence has gone four games in a row with none.
They’ll play the Colts in Indianapolis on Sunday, before finishing the season with a visit from the Titans.
If the betting odds are correct, the path to the Super Bowl in the AFC will go through Denver.
The Broncos are heavy -175 favorites to earn the AFC No. 1 seed, which comes with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Broncos could clinch the No. 1 seed as soon as Sunday, if the Chargers, Patriots, Bills and Jaguars all lose. The Broncos would also clinch the No. 1 seed with a win in Week 18.
The next-best odds go to the Patriots, who are +190 to earn the No. 1 seed. New England needs to win its final two games and hope the Broncos lose to the Chargers in Week 18.
The Jaguars are longer shots at +1200 to earn the No. 1 seed. The Jaguars would get the No. 1 seed if they win their final two games and both the Patriots and Broncos lose a game.
The Chargers are significant long shots at +3000. They would need to win their final two games while the Patriots and Jaguars both lose a game.
The Bills are the longest shots on the board at +4500. Buffalo needs to win both of its final two games while the Jaguars, Patriots, Chargers and Broncos all lose at least one game.
The Jaguars have not been shy about sharing their belief that they haven’t gotten enough respect around the football world for the work they’ve done this season and there was more fodder on that front this week.
Pro Bowl rosters were announced this week and the only member of the 11-4 Jaguars to land a spot was long snapper Ross Matiscik. Head coach Liam Coen said “that just speaks volumes” about the perception of the team and linebacker Devin Lloyd, who leads the AFC with five interceptions and has been cited as a snub, said it is something else that the team can use for motivation heading into the postseason.
“You always use that type stuff as fuel,” Lloyd said, via Mark Long of the Associated Press. “At the end of the day, you got to channel it the right way. . . . Anything you can use as an edge. I don’t think I was the only one that kind of got snubbed. We’re an 11-4 team, and a lot of guys put a lot of good stuff on tape.”
The Jaguars still have work to do in order to wrap up the AFC South, so any fuel to that fire will be welcomed. If they generate enough of it to make a run all the way through the conference come January, their players won’t be available for Pro Bowl festivities in early February.
The Colts are set to have cornerback Sauce Gardner back in their lineup on Sunday.
Head coach Shane Steichen said on Friday that the plan is for Gardner to play against the Jaguars. Gardner has missed the last three games with a calf injury.
Gardner has only appeared in three games for Indianapolis since being acquired from the Jets during the season. The Colts lost all three games he missed, which helped improve the first of the two first-round picks they sent to the Jets in the deal.
Steichen said that left tackle Bernhard Raimann (elbow) is also expected to play, but defensive tackle DeForest Buckner will not play. He’s going back on injured reserve after aggravating a neck injury and he is set to have surgery.
Center Tanor Bortolini (concussion), wide receiver Anthony Gould (foot), tight end Drew Ogletree (neck), and defensive end JT Tuimoloau (oblique) will also miss this weekend’s game.
The Colts did not hold a practice on Thursday, but they say that cornerback Sauce Gardner would have returned to the field if they did.
Gardner has missed the last three games with a calf injury and he did not practice on Wednesday, but he is listed as a limited participant on their Christmas injury report.
Friday will bring a more concrete look at where Gardner stands in his recovery from the injury. They will issue injury designations for their game against the Jaguars after their final workout of the week.
The result of Saturday’s Texans game could also impact their decision about playing Gardner. If the Texans beat the Chargers, the Colts will be eliminated from playoff contention before they take the field on Sunday.
